Chapter 7: If you can’t fill your stomach, you’ll only die, Part 1

The situation unfolding before Jo Sung-Il was as follows:

A Dungeon Break occurring at an underwater dungeon before he could even enter.

And a monster, presumed to be the boss, had emerged.

‘What in the…?’

Jo Sung-Il saw the trembling Hunter Association staff below.

Dungeons undergoing a Dungeon Break usually showed warning signs.

Since the staff were still here and seemingly hadn’t reacted, there might not have been any.

“Get out of here.”

He spoke, but the staff didn’t understand.

‘Han So-Yeon understood me.’

It seemed his words weren’t comprehensible to everyone.

‘No choice then.’

Jo Sung-Il looked up, leaving the staff behind.

He saw a monster that looked like a slightly more evolved Imugi, a Korean mythological serpent.

‘It’s Atla.’

Atla.

The boss of the underwater dungeon.

Like other dungeon monsters, it would respawn after a certain time if killed.

‘Lucky it came out of the dungeon this time.’

However, during a Dungeon Break, even respawning dungeon monsters had only one life.

In other words, if a monster that emerged from a dungeon gate was killed outside, it wouldn’t respawn.

‘Atla is B+ rank.’

It looked formidable, but its stats were no match for him.

‘Let’s finish this quickly.’

As Jo Sung-Il took a step forward,

[⚠ Warning. Before consuming prey, you must familiarize yourself with the ‘Dining Etiquette’ for optimal energy absorption.]

Dining etiquette?

[Dining Etiquette – Showcase: You must engage in a dramatic and stylish battle before consuming your prey. A higher prey rank does not guarantee a higher energy charge rate. The conversion rate of prey into energy is determined solely by the difficulty of the performance.]

[⚠ Warning. A status condition has been applied.]

[Dietary Restriction (B+↓): Due to lack of experience in consuming prey, you can currently only consume prey of B+ rank or lower. This restriction will gradually lift as you gain more experience.]

“What in the blazes are you talking about?”

Like the saying “experience is the best teacher,” he had received a status condition for something ridiculous.

“You should have told me this earlier!”

He vented his frustration, but the system didn’t respond.

‘This is ridiculous.’

The system operated under certain conditions, but this was too unhelpful.

What was the point of telling him this only after he was facing a monster?

‘At least….’

Thankfully, the monster he was about to eat wasn’t above his dietary restriction.

He was about to sigh when he heard screams from below.

It was the Hunter Association staff.

Unable to reassure them, Jo Sung-Il simply walked into Seokchon Lake.

KWAAAAAAA!

The whirlpool caught his feet.

Jo Sung-Il growled, feeling the immense pressure.

KYYYYAAA!

As if unwilling to welcome the intruder, Atla hissed and swam towards Jo Sung-Il, parting the water.

KYYYYAAAAAA!

“Can you not understand me?”

He tried to communicate, but Atla simply glared at him, baring its fangs.

“You foolish beast.”

Jo Sung-Il moved.

The raging whirlpool began to lose its balance.

“There’s no need to talk to someone who can’t or won’t communicate.”

Jo Sung-Il glared at Atla, but didn’t attack immediately.

He pondered.

‘A dramatic performance, huh.’

He remembered the monster movies he watched as a child.

Every time a new monster appeared, humans fought arduous battles with robots and eventually triumphed.

The process was never easy.

Even though it shouldn’t have been.

‘It’s as if someone is watching.’

As if someone had summoned the giant monster Kenonian Hectos for their amusement.

Of course, it was just speculation.

He couldn’t be certain of anything.

He simply knew that following the system’s instructions was in his best interest.

“Even eating isn’t easy.”

KYYYYAA!

Atla made the first move.

---

Although ejected from the underwater dungeon, Atla didn’t fully emerge from the water.

Its base stats increased by 150% when submerged.

KWAAAAABOOOOM!

This was proven as Atla rammed its body into the giant monster of similar size.

KOOOOOOOONG!

The giant monster, thrown backward, collapsed.

The entire Seokchon Lake trembled from the impact.

“Sir!”

Piranha-like monsters were ejected from the splashing water, flying towards the two Hunter Association staff.

“Look out!”

At the junior’s shout, the middle-aged staff member dodged the piranhas.

Swish! Hiss!

Numerous piranhas landed on the ground around them, snapping their teeth.

“C-Contact?”

The middle-aged staff member asked, and the young staff member replied,

“Made contact! They said they’ll dispatch Hunters soon!”
“They should have done that sooner!”

He was disgusted by the Hunter Association, sending low-ranking personnel to monitor unprofitable dungeons.

He gritted his teeth and looked back at the two monsters clashing.

‘Why are they fighting?’

Monsters rarely fought each other.

They were like territorial animals, but even if they intruded on each other’s territory, they would usually just warn each other off, not attack outright.

It was almost as if monsters had an ingrained understanding that they should cooperate against humans.

Yet, the opposite was happening now.

Splash!

The fallen giant monster tried to get up.

KABOOM!

Atla raised its tail and whipped it at the giant monster like a lash.

BANG! KABOOM! KABOOM!

Repeated attacks.
The giant monster couldn’t get up properly and took the full brunt of the assault.

“Sir!”

The young staff member spoke to the middle-aged one.

“Let’s get out of here while we can!”
“What?”
“They’re fighting each other! You said you wanted to build up your achievements! We need to survive to do that!”

He was right.

But….

“That giant monster, it’s different.”

Even low-ranking personnel with insignificant abilities developed instincts from frequent field experience.

Ordinary monsters usually attacked like wild beasts when provoked, with a few exceptions.

But the giant monster, currently under attack by Atla, was focused solely on getting back on its feet, as if inviting further attacks.

“Sir!”

The middle-aged staff member stared blankly at the giant monster.

Suddenly, the giant monster, having successfully stood up, turned and slammed its club-like tail into Atla.

KYYYYAA!

Atla was sent flying.

Then, the giant monster suddenly charged.

Its target was Atla.

It grabbed Atla by the neck as the water dragon tried to shake its head and get up, and pushed it onto the walkway next to Seokchon Lake.

KWAAAAAAA!

Atla, half out of the water, thrashed about.

Piranhas leaped from the water and clung to the giant monster’s body.

Responding to Atla’s cries, they attacked the giant monster.

The giant monster straightened up and then slammed its body onto the ground, shaking itself.

THUD!

The impact sent the piranhas flying.

Meanwhile, Atla coiled its body and tail around the giant monster.

Like a snake, Atla constricted the giant monster, spiraling upwards until its face was level with the giant monster’s.

It roared triumphantly.

CRUNCH!

But the giant monster suddenly bit Atla’s head.

KIAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Atla shrieked and tried to break free, but the giant monster didn’t let go.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The giant monster continued to bite down on Atla’s head.

Atla suddenly stopped moving and went limp.

RIP!

The giant monster ripped Atla’s body apart and roared.

“…Oh.”

The middle-aged staff member, who had witnessed the entire scene, finally understood.

But it was too late.

The giant monster was approaching him. The young staff member beside him was frozen in fear.

[Prey consumed.]
[Classic performance of taking hits and retaliating. Increased energy acquisition efficiency.]
[Current Energy: 41%]

But they didn’t know.

That Jo Sung-Il was simply walking to a spot with better lighting to see the system message.

‘Since I was using my strength while eating, the energy didn’t increase much.

Well, maybe the performance wasn’t dramatic enough.’

He took a bite of Atla’s body and briefly thought it was delicious, but decided not to acknowledge it.

Regardless of his form, he was originally a human who enjoyed normal food.